A new study has found that the perception of physical attractiveness is influenced by a person’s personality. People who exhibit negative traits, such as unfairness and rudeness, appear to be less physically attractive to observers.  

In the study, the participants viewed photographs of opposite-sex individuals and rated them for attractiveness before and after being provided with information on personality traits.

After personality information was received, participants also rated the desirability of each individual as a friend and as a dating partner. Information on personality was found to significantly alter perceived desirability, showing that cognitive processes and expectations modify judgments of attractiveness.  

The findings show that a positive personality leads to greater desirability as a friend, which leads to greater desirability as a romantic partner and, ultimately, to being viewed as more physically attractive.

The findings remained consistent regardless of how “attractive” the individual was initially perceived to be or of the participants’ current relationship status or commitment level with a partner. Personality goes a long way toward determining your attractiveness; it can even change people’s impressions of how good looking you are!

This entry was posted on Friday, December 21st, 2007 at 5:59 am and is filed under Personality Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.